I’m having a great day. It started
with a fun game of ulti out in the April sun. Then lunch with Sheila and my
good friend Nick. In a couple of hours I’m going to get together with a small
group of fellow music enthusiasts share our passion. Before I do that, let me
share it with you, dear reader.
Disc 727 is…. Vulgar Display of Power
Artist: Pantera
Year of Release: 1992
What’s up with the Cover? A fist punches a
face. Being punched in the face is never fun, as this guy’s expression makes
abundantly clear.
Based
on this picture the album should have been called “An Awkward Display of
Power.” I mean, who punches like that? Square up your fist man or you’re going
to sprain your wrist!
How I Came To Know It: Another ex-roommate album from
the early nineties. My friend Greg put me onto this album when we lived
together. He bought it when it came out but I’ve only had it for fifteen years
or so.
How It Stacks Up: Pantera has nine albums, but this is the only one in
my collection. I will likely get “Cowboys From Hell” soon but for now there is
nothing for “Vulgar Display of Power” to stack up against.
Rating: 4 stars
So…heavy, so….angry, so…awesome. In the
grunge-filled days of 1992 “Vulgar Display of Power was a kick in the balls of authority
and a reminder that as bad as the hair metal of the past five years had been,
metal still had a future.
That future was a perfect fusion of the ferocity of
speed and thrash metal with a chunky, grinding groove that gets down into the
deepest part of your guts and then slowly spreads up your spine straight up
into the lizard brain at the base of your skull. Here is the place you get
lustful and angry. Here the subconscious rules with an iron fist of
self-interest. Here, “Vulgar Display of Power” finds a happy home.
For all their thickness and power, these songs are
smartly constructed and they have a catchy riffs that make it easy to air
guitar along with. The first four songs are a relentless – and intoxicating –
assault on the senses. By the time things slow down a little on “This Love” you are welcoming the
respite, but it doesn’t last long (2:35 or so) before even this song explodes
into a churn of pounding drum and power chords. The energy Pantera has simply
must get out and there is no room for a ballad unless at some point it is
willing to explode halfway through.
Guitarist Dimebag Darrell (then called “Diamond
Darrell”) keeps the groove going, and he also has some odd but interesting
guitar solos. His progressions are inventive and have a vague hint of jazz
about them, except for the fact that they are played at a hundred miles an
hour. Darrell is definitely in the “play it fast” camp of guitar over the “play
it with soul’ camp. This can annoy me sometimes, but not here. The solos are
often split into two smaller sections, separated by more crunchy groove riffs.
It works well and keeps the record’s relentless energy from every dissipating.
Philip Anselmo is one of the angriest singers you’ll
hear, rivaling Rage Against the Machine frontman Zach de la Rocha for the
title. I’m not sure what he’s angry about – authority for sure, as the main
themes of “Vulgar Display” are about not taking any shit from anyone. Regardless,
the lyrics on this album play second fiddle to the feel of the songs and Anselmo
ably keeps the energy up. He delivers that energy in an angry growl, telling
the world that he is fucking hostile and that passersby should just keep walking
and not dare make eye contact for long. The lizard brain doesn’t like that.
“No Good
(Attack the Radical)” has that weird rap/rock style that Living Colour and
Faith No More were working at the same time and it sticks out oddly alongside
the rest of the album, but this is a minor quibble on what is a classic metal
record.
“Vulgar Display of Power” pulls no punches. It is
angry, prideful heavy metal that gets your adrenaline flowing. Over time you
might think it would be exhausting but instead it is exhilarating. A series of
long nights at the office meant that I listened to this album almost
exclusively for three straight days and I never got tired of it. If anything,
it helped me harmlessly let off a little steam.
My next stop to the local record store will find me
buying another Pantera album based on how much I enjoyed this one. If anything
I’m surprised I didn’t seek more of their catalogue out years ago.
Best
tracks: Mouth
for War, A New Level, Walk, Fucking Hostile, Rise
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